The Theory of Everything Director’s 4 top tips for filmmakers

This week we had the privilege of hosting a masterclass with feature film and documentary director James Marsh. James credits include the Oscar winning The Theory of Everything. James gave us an insight into the highs and lows of his career as a filmmaker and the inspiration behind his award winning documentaries (Man on a Wire, Project Nim).

During the masterclass James shared the various lessons he learned from working with actors and directors in the US and discussed his return to the UK film industry.

James was on hand to advise Met Film School students on broadcasting their films, submitting their work to festivals and becoming unique filmmakers. During the Q&A James highlighted the importance of gaining practical experience, no matter how small, to fully understand the holistic filmmaking process.

James left the Met Film School students with four key pieces of advice:

1. To immerse themselves in film.

James advised students to watch and study variety of genres to develop there individuality as a filmmaker.

2. To learn by admitting what they don’t know.

He shared that the greatest skills he has learnt resulted from asking for help and admitting his weaknesses.

3. To learn as many technical skills as possible.

James advised that a holistic knowledge of filmmaking increased his understanding as a director.

4. To always follow their moral compass.

His final advise to our students was to follow was inspires them but to always respect the characters of their story.